Hands Down
by theonlynewgirl
Summary: James comes back to Hogwarts after the summer with a new plan: to make Lily jealous enough to fall headoverheels in love with him. Lily isn't interested at all.. But since when had James Potter been so lovely?
1. The Beginning

**Hands Down**

_Disclaimer: I, sadly, do not own Harry Potter or any of the other characters in his story. Nor will I, to my dismay, **ever** own him. This story is purely fiction, with characters from the awesome books by JK Rowling. _

_This story is based on the song, 'Hands Down' by Dashboard Confessional – the lyrics will be hidden and written out throughout the story. Please read and review. _

* * *

**James**

James flicked on the shower in his dorm and stood under it, unmoving, thinking. It was the first day back after the summer holidays at Hogwarts and he had just woken up. He let the water from the shower completely cover him before washing and finally getting out of it and changing. He stood in front of his mirror, looking at himself. _Not looking too bad this morning, _he thought. Maybe, just maybe, Lily would pay him a little bit of positive attention.

He'd written to her a couple of times during the holidays, asking how she was and what she'd been doing. She had replied to the first letter, politely, but not flirtatiously. Not how he wanted her to have replied.

James didn't understand why Lily didn't want him. He'd grown up knowing he was good looking, clever and charming – he'd had enough girlfriends to know this was true. He knew he had flaws and he guessed that he wasn't as good at hiding them as he thought he was because, after almost 5 years of him trying and trying to get Lily to fancy him back, she still didn't.

James couldn't understand it. His friends always said he could get any girl he wanted. They knew what he was like, they knew he was a player. But he couldn't help it, he loved girls, he loved kissing girls, he loved girls full stop.

He'd had many girlfriends, all of them good looking at desired by many other boys in his school. But he'd never felt for them the way he'd always felt for Lily. She had always stood out from the rest, maybe because she didn't want him, maybe because she was beautiful and clever, maybe all of the above.

James sighed to himself, mussing up his hair and scratching his stomach. He didn't know if he'd ask her again this week. Normally he asked her out every two weeks. He didn't do it because he knew it annoyed her, like she thought he did, he did it because he thought that perhaps, one day, she'd say yes.

He didn't think he could face rejection again. Of course, he'd been through it loads of times with Lily before, but even after all of it, he still wasn't immune to her constantly saying 'never in a million years.' Of course it hurt him, he was in love with her. Yes, love. He'd realised it was love after a year of fancying her and knew that, because the feeling was still the same, he was _still _in love with her.

He loved every little thing about her – her hair, her eyes, her laugh, her angelic and slightly posh voice, her intelligence, her beautiful skin, her ability to always come up with comebacks whenever anyone insulted her. He wished that she felt the same way. He really, really did.

Lily wasn't like the other girls. He'd been in situations with some of his other girlfriends where he could have gone all the way with them but, even though his body was telling him to do so, he just couldn't. His mind and heart wanted him to wait for Lily even though he didn't really believe anything of that sort would even have crossed Lily's mind, let alone allowed to come close to happening.

James wouldn't ask her out again today. But he wouldn't give up. Maybe if he just acted like he didn't care anymore, he might be able to fathom some sort of upset reaction from Lily and then perhaps she'd want him. Yes, that was what he'd do: he wouldn't ask her out, he'd give her as little attention as possible and he'd act like he was over her. It was a brilliant plan.

It was ingenious.

**

* * *

Lily**

Lily Potter was sat in the Gryffindor common room, lying next to the fire and studying a map in the book, Hogwarts: A History. She wasn't a history or geography boffin but she'd overheard Sirius Black and Remus Lupin discussing a secret room somewhere in the castle and she wanted to find it. She scanned the map, looking at every tiny detail, but she couldn't see anything that looked unusual or secret. Sighing, Lily closed the book and stared into the fire, thinking.

She'd been back at Hogwarts for about two hours now and since arriving back, had unpacked all her things and read. Her friends had gone down to the welcome back dinner in the Great Hall but Lily hadn't followed them. She really couldn't be bothered to deal with Potter's constant flirting and the way he wouldn't _stop _asking her out.

Potter. What could she say about him? Well, he liked her. A lot. And had done for about 5 years now, if she had counted right. He was tall, dark haired and brown eyed. He was good looking, even Lily had to admit this. She may highly dislike him but this didn't make her immune to the fact that he was very handsome. She'd heard enough girls going on about it to know that it was normal for her to think this and to prove that he really was good looking.

But his looks meant nothing to Lily. Yes, she could appreciate them, but it wasn't as if she was attracted to him. He was too much of an arrogant arse for her to be attracted to him.

He'd been through loads and loads of girlfriends, each one never lasting longer than a month. In Lily's opinion, this didn't make him exactly the best person in the world. Almost the opposite, in fact. Him and his friends had broken thousands of Hogwarts girls' hearts and had most likely never been dumped. Lily couldn't help but lose respect for them because of this. Yes, they were good looking, especially Sirius Black, but that didn't give them the right to just play with peoples' emotions.

The only fairly decent members of Potter's hang were Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Lupin was just generally an all-round nice guy. Everyone liked him, even Severus Snape liked him. He was tall and quite muscular – muscular enough for girls to constantly go on about how toned he was – and had a kind, pretty face. No, he wasn't a pretty boy, but he was pleasant looking and his personality was equally as appealing.

Lupin and Lily had been friends since their first year at Hogwarts because they had been sat next to each other in Potions – a subject they both despised. They had become close through bitching about their Potions teacher and all their other teachers and subjects, until eventually their relationship grew into a lasting and meaningful friendship. Lily knew Lupin would never be interested in her in any other way than just as her friend but she felt exactly the same way. Lily loved her relationship with him – the only drawback was that he had an equally good relationship with James Potter.

Sirius Black was another matter. Okay, so he was a bit of a player, but he was always nice to his girlfriends and almost everyone else as well. It also helped that he had gorgeous long, black hair that hung down to his shoulders in a sleek, sexy way and gleaming dark eyes that always made you tingle when looking into them. Sirius was tall and toned, possibly not as much as Remus but enough to still get loads of attention from shallow girls.

Sirius had always had lots of girlfriends but had also always seemed to genuinely have feelings for them – unlike Potter who was obviously just in it for the physical contact. Lily wondered if Potter had ever actually slept with any of his girlfriends. Probably, a lot of his thinking did seem to take place in his nether regions as opposed to his head. _I bet he's great in bed_, she said quietly to herself before realising she'd even thought it. Lily looked around her in shame just to check no one else was in the common room. After satisfying herself that no one _was _around, Lily stood up and went into her room to get ready for bed.

She pulled on her black pyjama tank top and stripy bottoms and then tied her long hair up into a ponytail. After brushing her teeth and washing her face, Lily curled up in her four poster bed and pulled the hangings shut, awaiting the morning.

**

* * *

James**

When James went down to the Great Hall for breakfast, Sirius, Lupin and Peter were all already there. He sat down next to them and helped himself to some bacon and eggs, eating them hungrily. James looked around the hall, hoping to catch sight of Lily, who he still hadn't seen since glimpsing her on the train. She hadn't come down to dinner the night before so James hadn't even had a chance to give her a flirtatious look or wink.

_But, _James remembered, _I'm supposed to be acting like I don't like her so this isn't exactly a great start_. He turned back to his friends and asked them how they all were,

'I'm feeling great actually,' replied Sirius, lazily flicking his black hair out of his face to the delight of some fourth formers sitting further along their table. They started giggling girlishly and James shot them an annoyed look that immediately shut them up.

'Any particular reason?' James asked,

'Hmm, not really,' Sirius replied, 'Perhaps because there's a _gorgeous _new Ravenclaw who's transferred from Beauxbatons and is in almost all of my classes. He nodded towards and Hufflepuff table and James turned to see the girl he was talking about. She was sitting next to Cho Chang's younger sister Lee and they were deep in conversation. Her almost white-blonde hair hung low on her back in stunning curls that framed her face beautifully. There was no doubt about it, she was beautiful. Even from where he was he could see that she had a beautiful, endearing face that James would definitely not mind kissing.

Bust just as he thought this, James looked up and saw the face of a girl who he would definitely never give up the chance to kiss. Lily was walking into the Great Hall with her friends Jane and Rachel, swishing her hair to the side as she surveyed the room. Her eyes came to rest on James' but he looked away quickly.

Lily frowned to herself, _maybe he's finally going to leave me alone, _she thought.

James turned back to Sirius and said,

'Yeah, she is pretty hot.'

'Pretty hot?' scoffed Sirius, 'she's bloody stunning, that's what. Not just 'pretty' hot.'

James sighed and rolled his eyes, 'Whatever you say, Padfoot.' He glanced up to see Lily and her friends sitting a few people away from them, talking and laughing. Lily was looking as gorgeous as ever, her skin gleaming from an obvious tan and her eyes were as sparkly as ever. Suddenly Lily turned and looked at James, catching him off guard – he was _supposed _to be acting like he didn't like her. Quickly, James looked away from Lily and at another Gryffindor who was sitting behind her, he smiled and waved at the girl who blushed bright crimson and waved flirtatiously back. Lily looked from the girl to James and rolled her eyes, taking another sip of the orange juice in front of her.

James was pleased with himself, _nice move, _he thought – Lily was _clearly _just jealous. _Maybe this is going to be easier than I thought. _

**

* * *

Lily**

An irritated Lily watched Potter waving flirtatiously at someone behind her. She glanced round at the girl, Sarah Watkins, who she shared Herbology and then turned back to Potter, rolling her eyes. He simply winked at the girl and turned back to his food. Hmm, was this him trying to make her jealous? Or did he actually like this girl? Not that Lily cared. Of course she didn't care, he was James-bloody-Potter, nothing more than an arrogant git with an abnormally large head.

Looking up from her food, Lily saw Sirius looking at her and smiling, she waved and smiled back at him.

'How was your summer?' he mouthed,

'Great,' Lily mouthed back, 'and yours?'

Sirius gave her the thumbs up,

'Talk to you properly later, yeah?' Lily nodded and smiled.

Sirius continued to eat just as Lupin looked up and waved at Lily. He was looking more tired than usual, probably because it had been a full moon the weekend before school started. Lily smiled and waved back at him, she had missed him over the holidays. Just writing to him wasn't as nice as actually being with him, he was a really loyal and lovely friend.

After their breakfast, Lily and her friends headed off to their first lesson, Care of Magical Creatures, hurriedly. When they got there, James and Sirius were already there, leaning against the railings of one of Hagrid's animal pens. Sirius immediately stood and started talking to the three girls but James remained silent, watching them thoughtfully.

'You're quiet today, Potter,' Lily said to him, after an awkward silence. James' stomach did the excited little flip it did any time he had any interactions with Lily and he answered flatly,

'Indeed I am,' before turning and walking over to the same Gryffindor girl he'd been waving flirtatiously at, at dinner. He reached the girl and casually draped his arm around her shoulders, giving her his most sexy smile. The girl immediately giggled and smiled back at James, Lily couldn't believe how shallow and spineless some of the girls at her school were. She scowled and turned back to Sirius and the girls,

'Jealous, are we?' Sirius asked, watching Lily,

'Pfft, he wishes.' Lily replied, irritated.

'Actually, I'm not so sure he does anymore,' replied Sirius, 'you'll be pleased to know I think he's over you.'

'Oh,' Lily replied. Okay, she wasn't upset – why would she be? She didn't like him. But something inside her didn't feel too good when Sirius said that. Maybe it was just because she wasn't going to be getting as much attention from Potter anymore, but it couldn't be that. Lily wasn't as shallow as that, she wasn't an attention craver. Lily didn't know why she got that odd feeling in her stomach when Sirius said that and, honestly, she didn't really want to find out the reason behind it.

She didn't want to realise that she actually felt something. Because, of course she didn't. Lily could never like James – _Potter, _not James. He was an irritating arsehole who she'd always hated, there was no way she could ever feel anything for him.

After satisfying herself that the feeling she'd had was just caused by something she'd eaten, Lily immediately felt more comfortable and rejoined the girls' conversation with Sirius with more gusto than before.

* * *

**James**

James curled his arm around the girl, Sarah, and pulled her closer to him. She didn't complain, she just moved closer to him so she was virtually sat on top of him and smiled at him. She was pretty, funny, and sweet. He liked Sarah... but there was something about her that just wasn't good enough. He knew what it was, it was always the same with every girl. She wasn't Lily.

Speaking of Lily, why hadn't she noticed that he was ignoring her. And, if she had, why wasn't she being more obvious about it. James was really trying to get her to feel unwanted and jealous and she didn't seem too bothered at all. He had watched when Sirius had told her what James had asked him to, that he didn't like her anymore, and she hadn't seemed phased at all – she merely nodded. And now, she was busy flirting with Sirius who was standing beside her, helping her feed her Frogfish that was hopping about inside its tank.

Wanting desperately to get her to notice him and Sarah, James flicked a tiny rock on his desk at Lily and then quickly pulled Sarah to him and kissed her. Sarah laughed delicately against his mouth and didn't hesitate to kiss him back. Opening his eyes, smiling and pulling away from Sarah, James looked up to see Lily staring at him with a blank expression on her face. Sarah kissed the side of his mouth and he watched as Lily simply raised one of her eyebrows slightly, rolled her eyes again and turned back to Sirius who was now trying to restrain her Frogfish from hopping _out _of its tank.

Why hadn't she looked jealous? Why did she just look annoyed? Was she ever going to react? Argh, she was driving James fucking insane! And he'd only just started acting like he was over her. Maybe he needed to change his tactics, maybe he would just be really subtle about it. Sarah was nice enough, he wouldn't mind being her boyfriend for a while, and Lily was sure to eventually get jealous and decide that she was head-over-heels in love with James - it was only a matter of time.

And for once in his life, James was right about Lily.

* * *

**I hope you liked this fic, I had a great time writing it. I actually wrote it in my break from revising so I hope it's appreciated. Please review it – I'd hugely appreciate it – and I'll update as soon as I can. **

**Thanks,**

**theonlynewgirl**

**xx**


	2. Meetings & Baths

**Hands Down – Chapter 2**

**James**

The next day, Sarah was officially James' girlfriend. James had asked her out after dinner in the Great Hall and they'd then gone for a walk by the lake. He had kissed her, and he'd enjoyed it. But he still didn't feel that goddamn spark that he felt when he looked at Lily.

Okay, so he wasn't in this relationship to get over Lily – quite the opposite, but he thought that maybe he might just like this girl and maybe he _could _get over Lily and learn to love Sarah. Argh, emotions were so fucking annoying. It would be so much easier to be immune to girls and love. Scratch that, just love. If James was immune the girls… well, lets just say his life wouldn't quite as _exciting. _

Sarah was a great girl. She made James laugh and he was more of himself when he was with her than when he was with other girls. Maybe this time, in this relationship, he really did have proper feelings for her and wasn't just in it for the kissing and teenage fumbling about in the bushes.

Whatever. This was too fucking much for James. All this thinking, all this emotion, he needed to do some serious fumbling soon – just to prove to himself that he wasn't morphing into a girl.

He had walked Sarah to her dorm at about 11.30 and kissed her goodnight on her doorstep. It was a sweet kiss, not what he was used to. Usually James' kisses were full of lust and sexual desire, and though, this time, he was very sexually frustrated, he kissed Sarah sweetly.

He made up for that back in his room though.

The next day, James woke up bright and early and hurried off to his first Quidditch practice since starting the new term. Everyone was already there, doing circuits of the pitch on their brooms. Aaron, their captain, taught the team some new tactics and they had a five-against-five game until all of them were too tired out to keep playing. Aaron always worked them to the bone, James supposed it helped in the end.

By the time their practice had finished it was almost 11 o'clock and James looked down into the stands to see Sarah sitting with some of her friends. He flew down quickly and stopped in front of her, saying hello and kissing her before flying away again. He heard her friends gasp and start giggling and asking Sarah lots of questions before their voices faded out of site.

When James got back to his dorm, he was pissed off to find that his bathroom had been invaded by Moaning Myrtle A/N _She didn't actually exist back then but look past that _who was, unsurprisingly, moaning to herself whilst sitting on the side of James' bath. James knocked softly on the door and Myrtle looked up at him, her almost translucent eyes full of tears.

'What?' she asked bluntly, hiccoughing.

'Erm, I was just wondering if I could please have a shower.' Myrtle eyed him suspiciously,

'Go ahead,' she replied but made no effort to move.

James coughed, 'erm, sorry to be rude,' he began, 'but could you possibly leave?'

Myrtle's expression changed to one of complete outrage and screamed at James,

'DO YOU HAVE NO FEELINGS? CAN YOU NOT SEE I AM UPSET?'

'But you're always up-' James started to say but Myrtle flew over to him so she was practically nose-to-nose with him before he could even get the last word out.

'Don't you _dare _finish that sentence, Potter.' She spat. 'I refuse to move from this bathroom. And if you go into the other boys' bathrooms I shall follow you and prevent you from having a shower in them either. Now, GET OUT before I do something I'll regret.'

James hastily left the bathroom and ran, annoyed, into his room, grabbing some clothes and toiletries – he'd just have to find the Room of Requirement and have a shower there.

He made his way to the correct hallway and, pulling his invisibility cloak around him, walk in front of the wall three times and then went through the door that appeared.

The bathroom he was let into was massive and elaborately decorated. There were numerous showers, steam rooms, saunas and baths dotted around the place, painted in various eccentric colours and covered in different sets of complicated buttons.

James walked to the first bath and, seeing that it seemed simple enough to use, placed his things down by the side of the bath, pulled his sweaty robes off and climbed into the water that had quickly filled it. He plunged under the water and let the heat surround him, relaxing his tired muscles immediately. _This is the life, _he thought, _I could stay here forever. _

**Lily**

Lily was pissed off. And it was Moaning-fucking-Myrtle's fault. Why did she always seem to come to Lily when she was upset? Why Lily, of all people? It wasn't as if Lily was actually that nice to her when she came, crying, to her room and told her everything that was bothering her. Yeah, she listened, but she didn't _really _care and surely that was obvious?

Well, now, it evidently wasn't as Myrtle was ranting on about all her problems and Lily, who desperately wanted a nice warm bath, was forced to listen. She seriously had better things to do. Yes, she did feel sorry for Myrtle and did feel bad about not caring about what she was saying, but she _needed _and bath and she _needed _to relax.

She had just come back from a way-too-early prefect duty and now she just wanted to wake up properly, get ready properly and have a relaxing day.

'And then that _Potter _git,' Myrtle sniffed, 'tried to kick me out of his loo when I was upset! How RUDE!'

Lily stared at Myrtle who now lying across her bed sobbing against the duvet. _Okay, I can't take this any longer, _she thought.

'Listen, Myrtle,' she began, choosing her words carefully, 'I've just got to go get something, I won't be long. See you in a minute.' And without waiting for a reply, she scampered out of the room as fast as she could.

Earlier that week, Lily had finally found that room that Sirius and Lupin kept talking about, and planned to use it now to get away from Myrtle. She ran up to the corridor, passing a confused looking first year, and then paced in front of the wall three times. When the door appeared, Lily pulled it open quickly and was greeted by the warming sight of lots and lots of baths, among other things, for her to use her disposal.

She immediately placed her bag and change of clothes on the floor and started to undo her jeans. She pulled them roughly down, and then lifted her shirt over her head. She stood in her matching black lacey bra and knickers, a Christmas present from her parents, and looked around the room, trying to decide which bath to choose.

Just as Lily made up her mind to go into the deepest bath in front of her, a voice broke the silence of the room.

'Oh, fuck.'

Lily screamed as she turned around and saw Potter, dressed in only a towel and completely soaking, standing behind her. She snatched her towel up from the floor and wrapped it round herself as quickly as she could. Potter stared at her, looking just as embarrassed as she clearly felt.

'What are you doing here?' Lily spluttered, securing the towel under her arms.

'I'm assuming the same thing as you were just about to do, bathing.' He replied, pulling a t-shirt over his head.

'Did you fucking _follow _me?' Lily practically shouted.

James looked annoyed now, 'Of course I didn't follow you, I'm not a stalker. I just happened to be in the same place as you at the same time, for the same reasons.'

Lily regarded him with a look of confusion.

'Look,' she said, feeling guilty for shouting at him, 'don't leave because of me. I'll go, you were here first.' She bent down and picked up her shirt, starting to pull it over her head but then James spoke.

'No, it's fine. We might as well both stay here.' Lily wasn't entirely sure but she was almost certain that Potter's voice had sounded slightly excited at the last bit. 'There are plenty of baths in here, enough for us to be able to be completely opposite each other in opposite sides of the room.'

Lily nodded slowly, thinking what he'd just said over.

'Okay,' she replied a few seconds later, 'just as long as we _are _on opposite sides.'

James pretended to pout but at the serious expression on Lily's face, he stopped and nodded.

'Sounds like a plan.' He said, before turning and walking over to one of the most ornate baths in the far corner of the room.

Lily was confused. Firstly, James Potter had just seen her in nothing but her underwear. Secondly, he hadn't come onto her or asked her out. Thirdly, he was now moving as far away as possible to her by _choice – _he had even _suggested _itHe evidently didn't fancy her _at all _anymore.

Lily didn't really care. If only he hadn't looked so yummy though. Standing there in nothing but a towel with his hair all wet and sticking up everywhere. His body had been tanned, obviously from a hot holiday during the summer, and his muscles were defined, but not huge and menacing – Lily preferred guys that way. _Shut up, brain, _Lily, thought, she couldn't possibly be thinking this about Potter. _James _Potter, the one who she'd bitterly hated for the past five years… could she?

Her thoughts were interrupted though as a James' voice asked,

'Are you actually going to have a bath?' Lily looked up at him and nodded. He was already lying in his bath, up to his neck in bubbles, and was drinking water from a glass that had appeared at the side of his bath.

She turned and walked to the opposite corner of the bathroom. Okay, so Potter didn't want to be near to her in this circumstance, but she was going to make him regret this immediately. Lily stood at the side of her bath, put her things on the floor and gently pulled her auburn hair out of its high bun, letting it cascade gracefully about her shoulders. She then dropped her towel and stood momentarily in front of the bath, pretending to be choosing what bubbles to choose. After finally deciding, she pressed the little purple button on the side of the bath and watched as it filled with warm water and pale purple bubbles.

Without glancing round to see if he was watching her, Lily reached behind her back and unclipped her bra, dropping it to the floor. She heard a small splash behind her and then an embarrassed cough, but she still didn't look round. She was going to milk this situation for all it was worth.

As confident as Lily was with her figure, the one feature of her's that she really didn't like was her arse. She'd never actually been told that there was anything wrong with it, but she'd always hated it. And as much as she wanted to play with Potter, she was – in no way – going to let him glimpse her most detested feature. Carefully, Lily climbed over the side of the bath and then plunged into the warm water.

Once fully submerged and wet, Lily pulled her knickers off and flicked them over the side of the bath, so they landed next to her things. She then lay back and basked in the warm water, practically forgetting the Potter was even there.

But James didn't forget _she_ was there. No chance.

**James**

Was she trying to fucking kill him? Standing there in her underwear, fiddling about with the stupid little knobs on the side of the bath, as if he wasn't even there.

Oh fuck. She was unclipping her bra. James thought he might actually die - just there. In the bath, in the same room as a naked Lily Evans. _Oh, what a nice way to die that would be, _he thought to himself.

James sat up quickly, causing his arm to slip of the side of the bath and splash into the water. He coughed quickly to try to cover up what had happened and he must have covered it up well because Lily didn't even look round.

_She is stunning, _James thought, _I was kidding myself when I thought I might ever get over her. Looks like that aren't so easily overcome. Especially with a bloody awesome personality attached to them. _

Lily was now climbing into the bath, delicately placing her feet in and then following after them. She turned slightly to the side as she lowered herself in, giving James the tiniest glimpse of her right breast, before she disappeared under the water. James allowed himself to gasp in frustration before looking back quickly to check she hadn't come up and caught him. But she hadn't. And just as he looked over, a pair of black underwear flew over the side of the bath to the rest of Lily's things and she came up for air, resting on the side.

_This can't be what she's normally like. No one could look this sexy whilst having a bath, she's got to be playing it up. _

But James wasn't too sure. Why would Lily play up when it was only James in the room with her? It wasn't as if she liked him, she'd made that clear many a time, but if she did then did she have to drive him so damn insane? She was bloody good at it as well, James was having a hard time keeping himself from relieving the growing hardness he could feel in his nether regions.

_Think boring things, think of books and pictures… no, not kinky pictures. Okay, that's not going to work. Think of non-sexy things, McGonagall naked…eww. Good, that works… Madame Pomfrey naked, even worse… yes, it's working. _

To his relief James felt his hardness start to fade and he smiled to himself.

'What are you smiling about, Potter?' He heard Lily ask. Open his eyes lazily and turning to look at her he said, in the sexiest voice he could muster,

'Nothing but you, sweet cakes.'

Lily's face was a picture, 'Did you just call me _sweet cakes_?' she snapped,

'Problem, baby?' James asked, keeping his cool enough to be able to still flirt with Lily.

'Argh, sod off Potter. I'm here to relax,' Lily turned around and continued bathing in the warm water and bubbles covering her.

'As am I, Evans – so please stop distracted me with childish, flirtatious comments.' James smirked, awaiting what could only be a hilarious response from Lily.

'Are you bloody joking?' Lily yelled. She'd had enough now. Quickly jumping out of the bath and wrapping herself in her towel, she walked briskly over to James' bath. He yelped in surprise as she reached him and tried hard to make the bubbles on the surface of the water cover himself.

'Stop.' She said, simply. 'Now.'

James, for once in his life, was actually nervous. But yet he still had to say something back, even his state of terrified nakedness.

'Or what?'

Lily's left eyebrow raised delicately. She leant forward so that her face was directly in front of James', just millimetres away – if James had just puckered up his lips, they would have been touching Lily's.

'Just stop,' she whispered huskily, her warm breath caressing his face.

James didn't say anything, he just stared at her as she turned and walked back over to her clothes.

Lily's breathing was slightly quicker than normal as she hid behind a shower and pulled her clean clothes on. She then walked out from behind the shower to see that Potter was still in the bath, staring at the ceiling.

'Good night, _Lily,_' he said softly.

'Night… _James_.'


	3. Not Completely Naked

**Hands Down – Chapter 3**

* * *

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything Harry Potter. All of the characters in this story are JK Rowling's except Sarah, who is mine.

* * *

**Lily**

_James? _Lily thought, _did I just call him James? _And he'd called her Lily… but that was probably just because he'd been naked and nervous. _Potter nervous,_ Lily scoffed, _I doubt that boy would even be nervous when naked in front of his mother, he's so bloody arrogant. _

Lily closed the door to the Room of Requirement behind her and started to walk down the corridor. But then she stopped. Why should _she _have to be the one to not have a proper bath just because Potter was being a git? He had been there longer than her and therefore, frankly, he should be the one leaving – not her.

Lily turned around and walked back to the plain space of wall where the door had been moments before. She paced in front of it and walked in to see Potter still lying in the bath, this time with his eyes closed and bubbles practically covering his head. He opened his eyes lazily and glanced up at her,

'Unable to resist my charms, Evans?' he asked, back to his usual self.

'You wish, Potter.' Lily replied, smiling falsely at him. 'I actually came back because I haven't quite finished having a bath. In my opinion, because you've been here longer than me and are clearly clean, you should be the one to leave. It was you who originally made the situation one of which I wanted to leave so therefore, you should be leaving now.'

James scowled at her and opened his mouth to speak but Lily cut across him,

'And don't think I'm going back in that bath while you're still here, Potter. You can take your naked self into another girl's bathroom, I'm sure any girl but me will be happy to share a bathroom with you.'

James blinked slowly and then made to stand up, the bubbles in his bath covering his modesty.

'Fine,' he said slowly and in an annoyed tone, 'I'll leave.'

Lily smiled cattishly.

'I have to actually get out of here first though, my dear, and as much as I'm sure you'd love to see me naked, can you please turn around?'

Lily scowled at him, rolled her eyes and turned around. A few moments later Potter was wearing his jeans and was towelling his hair with a red Gryffindor towel. He stood, topless, in front of Lily, smiling as he mussed up his hair with the towel. Lily couldn't help it, she _was_ human and a body like James' was made to be looked at, lusted over and appreciated. She glanced quickly at his chest and his smooth abs and when quickly looking back at his face, saw that his smile had grown even bigger.

'Like what you see?' he said, wolfishly, trying to make his voice deep and sexy,

'I'd love to answer that question honestly, Potter, but I wouldn't want to dent your precious ego.' She smiled sweetly at him and his _own_ smile faded.

He raised his left eyebrow, 'I'll just have to go find Sarah then, I'm sure she'll feel the complete opposite of what you're feeling.' James smirked, he was pleased with his comeback and hoped Lily was going to react jealously.

She wasn't.

'You do that, Potter,' she replied, 'I'm sure Sarah will definitely jump at the chance to shag you after being with you for a day.'

James eyed Lily up through narrowed eyes, 'Leave Sarah alone, you don't know her,' he said quietly, 'I didn't realise you were actually a bitch.'

Lily stared at James, surprised at his comment and unable to think of a response. With that, James turned and walked straight out of the room. Lily stood for a few moments, thinking about her conversation with James. _Am I really a bitch, _she thought. Yes, she did feel guilty about what she'd said to James but he'd been being his arrogant self and she couldn't have just let him get away with it. She never let him get away with being arrogant with her so why shouldn't she respond the way she had? It wasn't as if he'd never said anything offensive to her.

She sighed and then made her way over to the bath she had been in before. After shedding her clothes and stepping into the bath to relax, Lily heard a noise that made her want to hold her breath and hide from its cause under the water. Moaning Myrtle had found her again.

**James **

James pulled his shirt on as he walked out of the door and closed it with a _click _behind him. He swung his towel over his shoulders and headed towards Sarah's room.

He hated that Lily could see through him and he hated how she knew how to really get to him. Maybe Sarah was the kind of girl who'd jump into bed with him immediately but Lily had no right suggesting this as if Sarah was 'easy.'

When he got to Sarah's room, he knocked on the door but no one answered. Annoyed, he walked back into his room and lay down on his bed. He still had the rest of the day to do something so he might as well find Sirius and Remus to do something mischievous, just to pass time.

After deciding that Remus and Sirius were probably out in the school grounds or in the Great hall, James made his way to the hall first to check if they were there.

Just like he'd thought, his friends were both in the hall. Sirius was sitting with his arm around the gorgeous new Beauxbatons girl from the previous day and Remus was busy chatting to Lily. James hated that Remus could have such a good relationship with her, he wished that he could have developed such a friendship.

James couldn't help feeling out of place, Sirius was with a new potential girlfriend and Remus was busy chatting to someone who hated him. James never felt out of place and he didn't like it. Sighing to himself, James made his way over to Remus, running his fingers through his hair nervously. He especially didn't like how feeling out of place made his confidence drop so much.

Remus and Lily were laughing hysterically when he got to them, he shifted nervously on his feet as they stopped and Lily stared at him, tears of mirth in her eyes.

'Hello there Prongs,' Remus said, smiling, 'you alright?'

James nodded shiftily,

'Yeah, thanks mate. Could I have a word?' Remus nodded, said goodbye to Lily and moved away with James.

'Something bothering you?' he asked,

'Not really… I just didn't really want to be near Evans again. We had a bit of an awkward moment on discovering we both wanted to use the Room of Requirement for a bath at the same time.'

Remus' mouth fell open and he laughed out loud,

'Did she see you naked?' he asked,

'No,' James replied, flushing irritatedly, 'it was more the other way around.'

Remus' gaped at him and then eagerly asked,

'You saw _her _naked?'

'Well, not completely,' James said, half smiling as he remembered Evans in her underwear.

'Why are you so bloody lucky?' Lupin asked, exasperated, 'what was she like?'

'Bloody hot,' James was smiling broadly now, 'She didn't see me at first so she was just stood there, taking her clothes off. I would have stayed silent but I knew she'd see me eventually and I really didn't want her to think I was stalking her. So I coughed and she had a go…'

'I hate you Prongs!' Remus yelled and James had to punch him to make him quiet, 'why do you always end up seeing stuff like that? The same thing happened to you with Tonks last year, didn't it?'

James nodded smugly, the previous year, James had walked in onRemus' crushTonks changing in the Gryffindor Quidditch changing room. Remus had been eternally jealous because he had and still did have a massive crush on Tonks.

'It was amazing though,' James continued, 'after we decided that we'd both just have baths in opposite sides of the room-' James paused as Lupin gaped at him again, 'I know. But anyway, after that she stood by the bath in her underwear and did this slow strip tease kind of thing, as if I couldn't see her.'

Lupin raised his eyebrows sceptically and nodded slowly,

'Sure she did, James,' he said, sarcastically, 'I'm sure Lily _Evans _gave you a strip tease.' He patted James on the back patronizingly and started to walk away.

'But she did!' James shouted, indignant.

Lupin turned back, smiling at James and said,

'I'm suuuuure she did, Prongs.' James stared indignantly at Lupin's retreating figure.

How dare he not believe him! Why would James make up something like that? James supposed Lupin had probably thought that he'd been jealous of him chatting to Lily and wanted to make it seem like he had more of a chance with her. Yes, it was something James might do but he still didn't have the right to just _assume _he was lying. The git.

James looked around to see that Sirius was now sitting with the Beauxbatons girl on his lap, kissing her furiously. He scowled at them and then turned around and saw Sarah walking down the stairs in the hallway with some of her friends. Smiling, he walked towards her.

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**Thanks for reading :) Sorry nothing too exciting happened in this chapter - do not fear, more intruige awaits you.**

**Please review, it'll make me want to update sooner.**

**Thankyous,**

**theonlynewgirl**


	4. Love & Revenge

**Hands Down - Chapter 4**

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**Disclaimer: **I still don't own anything Harry Potter. All of the characters in this story are JK Rowling's except Sarah, who is mine.

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**Lily**

Lily watched James and Sarah embrace and then walk out of the great hall, hand in hand. She felt a pang of something… jealousy maybe? Not because of whom they were but their closeness and their relationship.

But then again, Potter was obviously just using Sarah to get to Lily. Lily looked around in shock at her thought, as if someone might have heard her. Had she really just thought that? Surely she couldn't have suddenly become so arrogant?

Shaking her head, Lily started to walk out of the hall and back up the library, there was still some work she needed to do – even if it was the weekend.

When she got to the library, no one but Madame Pince was there, everybody else was probably busy having fun outside in the sun. Lily would have normally gone and sunbathed with her friends Amanda and Natalie, but she wasn't in a very relaxed mood. Something was just getting to her that day but she couldn't quite place it.

Sighing to herself, Lily pulled her books out of her bag and laid them out on the table in front of her. She had barely been working recently and she seriously needed to get some hard work in before the year properly started. Okay, so the three days that she'd actually been at Hogwarts for were only inset days, but she still needed to be prepared.

Tomorrow she would find out who the new DADA teacher was, who the head boy and girl were and her schedule. In true Lily style, she could barely wait to find out if she was head girl. She'd been a prefect for the past two years and had never lost her house a single point, so surely she would automatically be made head girl?

Lily had no idea who would be made head boy though. Knowing her luck, it would probably be Potter. But then again, he'd pulled so many stupid pranks in his time at Hogwarts that everyone knew there was no chance he'd be responsible enough for head boy.

Lily hoped it might be someone like Remus Lupin, they were close and would obviously make a great team. That way Lily would also get to see Remus more often than she already did.

Unbeknown to Lily, the head boy and girl were decided when they first set foot in Hogwarts by the Sorting Hat. It was against the school's rules to make anyone who hadn't been chosen from the Sorting Hat as head boy or girl so even if the two chosen didn't seem good for the job, the teachers had no choice to appoint them with the honours.

**James**

James and Sarah stayed for a while on the grass in the school grounds. They chatted and laughed a kissed and James tried to enjoy it as much as Sarah obviously was. But there was just something niggling inside of him, making him wish he was somewhere else. He knew what it was and he hated it, he hated how it made nothing ever good enough. He hated that he would never have it, never have _her. _Lily Evans, it was always _her_ on his mind.

**Lily**

By the time Lily had finished her work, it was already dark and the castle had grown quieter. Sighing, Lily picked up her books and loaded into her backpack, pulling it onto her back.

She made her way out of the Library and down the winding staircase to her floor. As she rounded a corner she bumped straight into Lucius Malfoy who seemed angry and roughly pushed her out of his way. Lily made a small 'oof' noise as she was shoved and Lucius looked back and her and smiled suggestively.

'Eww.' Lily said simply and started to walk away but the stronger Slytherin grabbed her arm and pulled her back so she was pressing up against him.

'What are you doing?' she yelled, trying to pull herself free. Before she knew it Lucius had pressed his lips to hers and was kissing her furiously. Lily tried to scream and wriggle out of his grasp but this just made him angrier and he bit hard down on her lip, making her squeal in pain as the metallic taste of blood filled her mouth.

'You resist and I'll fucking kill you,' he said, his voice full of malice and power. Lily didn't doubt his words, not one bit. As tears fell down her cheeks, she felt the boy's hands all over her, touching her where he shouldn't and kissing her how he shouldn't. Lily begged him to stop but he ignored her and continued.

Lily's silent tears transformed into loud sobs as she attempted to struggle again but was greeted by a hard slap across her face. Lucius pushed her up against a wall and started pulling her skirt up.

Lily was about to give up hope and give in to the disgusting boy feeling her all over, when she heard footsteps in a near corridor and Lucius pulled back from her. Someone was nearing them. Lucius grabbed hold of Lily's neck and pushed her head back against the wall,

'Tell anyone about this and you're dead,' he growled, the sound of his voice evil and malicious. Lily nodded slowly and he let go of her, letting her slide down the wall to the floor. He then turned around and strode off down the corridor, out of sight.

Lily sat in silence for a couple of seconds before dissolving into a crying wreck. Her whole body shook with each sob and she pulled her knees in close to her, trying to calm herself down. She felt weak and violated, maybe if she'd just fought harder she would have been able to get him off her sooner…

How could she have let this happen? She was so weak…

**James**

James said goodnight to Sarah outside her dorm and made his way up to his own dorm room. Glancing over at Sirius' empty bed, James noticed that the Marauder's map was lying on it. Simply wanting to know where Sirius and the others were, James picked the map up, muttered 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good,' and watched as the map appeared on the parchment in his hands.

He looked on it and saw that Sirius, Remus and Peter were all in the kitchens, no doubt stuffing themselves with yet _more _food. James lifted his wand to wipe the map clean but stopped when a certain unmoving dot caught his eye. Lily Evans was in one of the corridors two levels below him and she wasn't moving. James stared at the map for a few more minutes but still the small dot representing Lily didn't move. Worried, James slid the map into his pocket and made his way out of his dorm room.

He ran along to the corridor he had seen Lily in and looked down it, trying to make her out in the dark. But he heard her before he saw her. Lily was lying in a crumpled, sobbing heap on the floor at the end of the corridor. James sprinted towards her and she jumped in fright on noticing him so suddenly.

Lily tried to speak but on failing to be able to do so began sobbing harder still. Not knowing what else to do, James pulled her to him and let her cry in his arms. Lily leaned against her chest with her head buried in the soft fabric of his robes, trying to hide herself from the reality of what had just happened.

James gently stroked her back and hair, whispering 'it will be okay' into her ear. Eventually Lily's sobs became less frequent and she looked up at James, her eyes red and puffy.

'What happened?' he asked, softly,

'Lucius… I … he tried to… I tried to scream but he said he'd kill me… he wouldn't stop… his hands were all over me… he wouldn't _stop._'

James listened carefully to what Lily was saying, trying to hear her as she spoke quietly and timidly. Gradually, what she had said dawned on him and he grew livid, deep hatred seething inside him.

'I'll fucking kill him, I mean it,' he spat through gritted teeth, attempting to stand up, but Lily held onto him and begged him not to.

'He said he'd kill me if I told,' she stuttered, 'please, James, _please.' _

James' face softened and he pulled Lily to him again,

'I'm sorry,' he whispered into her ear.

They stayed in this position for what seemed like hours, Lily breathing quietly in a slightly strangled girlish way as James held her close to him, feeling her rapid heart beat slowing down. Eventually Lily's breathing slowed right down and James knew that she had fallen asleep. As gently as he cold, he knelt down and picked her up and began carrying her back to their dormitory.

Being the rebel that he was, James knew the password to Lily's dorm room and was able to silently open the door and carry her into it in the dark. He laid her down in the only remaining bed he assumed was hers and pulled her velvet cover up so that only her head remained showing. James bent down and lightly kissed Lily on her still wet cheek, stroked her beautiful red hair and made to leave as quietly as he'd come.

A hand grabbed onto James' and he turned to see Lily looking at him through puffy eyes,

'Please,' she said softly, almost inaudibly, 'don't leave me.'

Lily pulled her cover back and moved to the side, showing James that there was space for him to fit next to her. Not wanting to say no to Lily in her current state or to leave her unprotected, James took his shoes off and slid into bed next to her.

Lily was facing away from him, the moonlight shining off her curls. She rolled over so she was facing him and they stared at each other in silence.

Gingerly, Lily moved her head forwards and planted a small kiss on James' lips,

'Thank you,' she whispered, before moving backwards and taking James' arm so it wrapped around her waist, holding her protectively.

James pulled her closer to him and kissed the back of her neck. He didn't want to ever leave her, he could have stayed this way forever.

He couldn't believe anyone could have done what Lucius had done to such an incredible creature. How could anyone violate her in such a way and then threaten to kill her if she told?

How could anyone hurt _his _Lily?

His anger slowly building, James fell asleep with thoughts of his love for Lily and revenge against Lucius clouding his tired mind.

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**Please review, I'm quite proud of this chapter although it's not the greatest in the world. **

**Reviews are huuugely appreciated, even if they're only one word long:)**

**Thanks, **

**theonlynewgirl**


	5. He Loves Her

**Hands Down – Chapter 5**

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**Disclaimer: **I still don't own anything Harry Potter but I do own the plot in this fic. All of the characters in this story are JK Rowling's except Sarah, who is mine.

**

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James**

James stirred slowly in the morning, his eye fluttering softly as he slowly realised what the warmth against his side was - Lily.

Peaking out of the hangings of Lily's four poster bed, James could see through the window that it wasn't quite light yet. Lily sighed contentedly in her sleep and James looked down at her. Her long dark eyelashes fluttered slightly but she was still asleep. Her sleek red hair that had previously been tied into a tight bun now fell around her head on the pillow, surrounding it almost like a halo.

James gently stroked her soft cheek, not knowing what to do with himself. She had asked him to stay when he'd tried to leave and she had kissed him but he still felt like he was imposing on her space. Lily had been scared and fragile last night, when she'd done all those things, but the normal Lily wasn't like that. The normal Lily would never let James anywhere near her bed.

_Maybe it would be best if I just left, _James thought. Carefully, trying his hardest not to wake her, he lifted her pale arm away from where it was resting against his chest and slid out from under her duvet and pull it into place around her. James then ducked under her bed hangings and tiptoed out of her dorm, closing the door with a _click _behind him.

As he walked across the dark common room and back to his dorm, James wondered how Lily would react to him later that same day.

**Lily**

'_You resist and I'll fucking kill you.'_

Lily woke with a start, her whole body shaking and covered in sweat. She sat up quickly and wrapped her covers tightly around her, even though she was ridiculously warm anyway.

Glancing around her, she saw to her relief that her bed hangings were still shut andthat no one was around her. No one at all. Had she been imagining it or had someone rescued her from _his_ clutches? If they hadn't then how the hell had she managed to get back to her bed?

Then she remembered. James had found her, he had _rescued _her. Not literally from the disgusting arms of Lucius Malfoy, but from where she had been after he had left her in the corridor. James had let her cry on him and then must have brought her back to her bed.

Had she dreamt that she had kissed him and made him sleep in her bed with her that night? Because he wasn't there now… Lily sighed, collapsing back onto her pillow and staring at the ceiling of her four poster. _Did he leave? _She thought, _I can't have been entirely imagining him being here… or maybe having an 'incident' like I did made me hallucinate? _Lily sighed again and then climbed slowly out of her bed.

Just seconds after she had opened her hangings her friend Amanda jumped out of her bed and ran over to her, an excited expression on her face.

'Oh my God, Lils' she began, struggling to stay as quiet as possible as she dragged Lily out of their dorm and into the girls common room, 'you have some serious explaining to do!'

Lily stared at Amanda with a blank expression, 'what on Earth are you talking about?' she asked.

Amanda rolled her eyes, 'for Merlin's sake, Lily, you might as well just tell me what happened.' She glared at Lily, obviously very frustrated.

'I honestly don't know what you're talking about!' And she meant it, what the hell was Amanda on about?

'What I'm _talking _about,' Amanda almost yelled, 'is what the hell happened between you and James to prompt him _sneaking _out of your bed at 5 in the morning?'

_Ohhhh, _Lily remembered, _that thing. _

'It wasn't what you think,' she replied, 'he saved me.'

'God, Lils,' Amanda replied, now looking even more pissed off, 'don't be so bloody melodramatic.'

'What are you talking about? You don't even know what happened!'

Amanda rolled her eyes infuriatingly again, 'so you shagged him, that doesn't mean he _saved _you.'

'For your information,' Lily began, pursing her lips, 'I didn't _shag _him and he didn't _save _me in that kind of way. He saved me in a literal way, not a stupid, metaphorical way. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go have a shower and wash myself of what actually happened last night with someone you definitely wouldn't expect.'

Amanda eyed her with a curious expression,

'Sorry…' she muttered, 'what _did _happen to you then?'

So Lily told her everything up to her waking up that morning. Amanda stayed rooted to the spot, staring at Lily, opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish. When Lily finally stopped talking, Amanda ran over to her and enveloped her in a huge hug, telling her how sorry she was for presuming that James had slept with her and telling her how much she loved her.

Lily had broken into tears when telling the story and felt almost as warm and protected in Amanda's arms as she had in James'. Lily made Amanda promise she wouldn't tell anyone about what she'd told her even though Amanda insisted that she needed to kill Lucius herself.

Even so, they both knew that most of their dorm room had probably heard them arguing and that soon the whole school would know about James sneaking out of Lily's room. Lily thought briefly about Sarah but was then distracted by Amanda insisting that she have a shower and get ready so they could go for a walk in the 'lovely weather.'

In the shower, Lily checked over her and saw that she had bruises on her hips from where Lucius had been holding her and had a blue hickey – she could hardly call it a lovebite – on her neck. After trying and failing to get the marks to go away – this only made Lily remember what had happened and made her upset again – Lily gave up and climbed out of the shower, wrapping her towel tightly around her.

When she had changed she came back into the common room to see Amanda surrounded by the rest of the girls who slept in her dorm room. They all stopped talking suddenly and turned to stare at Lily as if they had never seen her before.

After a couple of seconds they all started shouting questions at Lily,

'Did you _shag _James Potter?'

'Was he any good?'

'I'm so jealous, Lils, was he as good as everyone says he is?'

'Do you think he's better in bed than Sirius?'

Lily shook her head frantically,

'Nothing happened, you guys,' she said over the loud questioning, 'it's not what you think.'

'Well what did happen then?' asked Rachel, a particularly obnoxious fourth year.

Lily opened her mouth to speak but closed it again,

'I can't tell anyone.' She mumbled simply,

'Hah!' yelled Rachel, 'I knew you'd sha-'

'Think whatever you want,' Amanda interrupted, 'but me and Lils don't have time for this. See you guys later.' And with that she stood up, grabbed Lily's hand and pulled her quickly after her out of the common room.

'You do realise that in about 30 minutes, everyone in the school will think you nailed James Potter, right?' Amanda asked, half smiling at Lily,

'Yep.' She replied, biting her lip and smiling cheekily at her friend.

**James **

After coming back to his dorm that morning, James had fallen asleep and only woken up half way through first lesson.

Annoyed that the Marauders hadn't woken him up before, James stood up and went into the shower moodily.

After quickly washing, he climbed out of the shower and wrapped himself in a towel. Glancing over at his steamed up mirror, he saw the words '_Haha, you're late_' written in the condensation against the glass. Sirius must've charmed the mirror just to piss James off.

Growling, James wiped the mirror clean and got ready as quickly as he could, before hurrying down to Transfiguration.

He pushed open the door as quietly as he could, hoping to slip in unnoticed, but McGonagall saw him immediately.

'10 points from Gryffindor for lateness, Mr Potter,' she said, her voice icy and irritated, 'now hurry up and sit down.'

James quickly moved into a seat between Sirius and Remus, making sure he bashed into Sirius as he sat down for not waking him up.

Looking up and around the room, James noticed that nearly all of the girls in it were staring at him and whispering – even more than normal. One of the only girls who wasn't looking at him was Lily, who was sitting in her normal place at the front.

He had noticed that she hadn't even looked up at him when he'd walked into the class and he could see now that she wasn't even talking to her friend Amanda who was sitting next to her.

McGonagall's voice broke through James' thoughts, 'I'll be back in one moment, I just have to go get something from the store cupboard. I trust you all will be able to stay quiet and sensible whilst I am away.' Her gaze lingered on the Marauders and she raised her eyebrow sceptically. 'Please continue copy the diagram on page 201 and when finished, sit in silence and await my return.' With that, she turned and walked briskly out of the door, shutting it behind her.

No sooner had the door shut, Sirius turned to James and, with a stunned expression on his face, said,

'You shagged Evans.'

To James' surprise, Remus was also staring at James, his expression mirroring Sirius'.

'No I didn't.' James replied, Sirius raised his eyebrow and Remus said,

'Then why were you in her bed all night and why did you sneak out this morning before anyone was awake?'

'Something happened,' he replied, 'well, not _that _kind of thing anyway.'

'Then what _did _happen?' Sirius demanded, getting desperate.

James opened his mouth but shut it when an origami bird flew onto his desk and started tweeting at him. He picked it up and unfolded it, inside it a message said,

_Please don't say anything to anyone, I don't want people to know about Lucius. Can we talk after this lesson?_

_Lily._

James glanced up at Lily, but she was still working as furiously as before. Sirius tried to read the note over James' shoulder so he quickly wrote _yes _and then sent it back to Lily as a bird again.

'What did it say?' Sirius asked eagerly, 'thanks so much for last night James, you were the best I've ever had?'

'Funny,' James replied, scowling. 'She wants to talk to me about what happened, I'll tell you after I've spoken to her. But nothing happened and we didn't have sex.'

Seeing that James wasn't in the best of moods, Sirius and Remus nodded sheepishly and turned back to their work.

Professor McGonagall couldn't believe it when she came into her class to find _all_ of the Marauders – _not just Remus! –_ working quietly. Such was her pleasure that she let the class out early and didn't give James the detention she'd been planning on giving him for being late.

Everyone left the room as fast as possible, hoping to get at least 10 minutes of time before their next lesson. Lily was the first out, James the last. As he went through the door James saw that Lily was leaning against the wall a few metres away from him. She looked up and smiled slightly at him and he made his way over to her.

'Hi,' he said,

'Hi.' There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Lily spoke again.

'I wanted to thank you for last night-' she began but James frowned,

'I didn't do anything… but thanks.' He replied.

'You did though,' Lily insisted, 'I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't found me and taken me back to my dorm.'

James shrugged again. 'I couldn't have just left you.' He said quietly.

'But that's why I wanted to talk to you,' Lily continued, 'that and because I wanted to ask that you didn't tell anyone what happened with Lucius.'

James opened his mouth to object but Lily continued,

'He said that I couldn't tell and you know what he's like, I don't want him to hurt anyone,' Lily couldn't believe she was being so weak, 'but I thought that maybe we could just say that I tripped down some stairs when I was sleep walking and you heard me and carried me back?'

It was a crap story, but James didn't have a better idea.

'Okay,' James said, shrugging again.

'Okay.' Lily stared at him, her piercing emerald eyes trying and failing to read him.

'You must understand that I might try and kill Lucius anyway.' James said, grinning slightly and breaking their silence.

Lily smiled slightly,

'Feel free to do so,' she replied, 'just make sure he doesn't know it's because of me.'

James nodded, smiled and turned to walk away.

'Wait!' Lily walked quickly over to James. Standing on her tiptoes, Lily kissed the corner of James' lips and he smiled.

'Just to say thank you for last night,' Lily giggled, 'you were great.'

Before James could respond, an angry and upset voice spoke,

'You arsehole! And you _slut!'_ James looked to where the voice had come from and saw Sarah standing near to him and Lily, her face red with tears and anger.

'This isn't what you think, Sez,' James quickly replied, hurrying over to Sarah and taking her hands.

Sarah pulled her hands out of James' and slapped him hard across the face. She then walked slowly over to Lily and looked her up a down, slowly.

'You just couldn't keep your hands off him, could you?' she sneered, 'slag.'

Sarah's lip trembled as she turned quickly on her heel and ran off in the opposite direction. James ran his hand through his hair in agitation, dithered for a moment, looking at Lily, and then ran after Sarah.

**Lily**

_Bollocks, _thought Lily, _I've really screwed things up for those two then. _She hadn't meant to make what she'd said sound so much like what everyone in the school thought was true. James would now probably hate her as much as he hated Lucius, now that she'd ruined his relationship with Sarah too.

Sighing heavily, Lily turned and walked to her next lesson along the corridor James and Sarah had vanished down. It was as she reached the end of it that she heard raised voices, James and Sarah's.

'I didn't sleep with her!' said James' voice.

Lily hid quickly behind a statue of a Witch next to the classroom the voices were coming from and listened.

'What the hell did you do then?' Sarah's voice.

'I..I just saved her,' James began feebly, 'she sleepwalks and she fell down the stair case outside our dorm, she must've been trying to get up. I found her and took her back to her room. That was all.'

There was a pause.

'It's not just that though, is it?' Lily heard Sarah ask.

'What do you mean?' James again.

Lily didn't know whether Sarah had answered James' question or not because her voice was suddenly hushed and quiet and Lily had to strain her ears to hear them from her hiding place.

'I don't love her, Sarah, you know that.' Finally Lily heard James speak.

'Yes you do.'

'No I don't! For God's sake, what's wrong with you?'

'_Me?_' Sarah yelled, 'What's wrong with me is the fact that my _boyfriend _is and has been from the very beginning, in love with another girl.'

- Pause –

'I'm not in love with her.' James finally said in a weak voice.

'Then tell me what really happened last night.'

'I can't.'

'And tell me that you would reject her if she told you she loved you right this moment.'

'…I ca-.'

'That's what I thought.' Sarah's voice had gone from upset to almost businesslike.

'But I don't-'

Sarah cut him off,

'Yes you do, James. Stop denying your feelings. It was obvious from the start that you weren't completely over her, no matter how you acted.'

She sighed.

'You're in love James, and very much in love if you ask me.'

**James**

_Shit,_ James thought,

_She's bloody right!_

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Review review review : )

I hope you guys liked this chapter, sorry it's so long!

Thanks for reading,

theonlynewgirl


	6. The Lake and The Memory

**Hands Down – Chapter 6**

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**Disclaimer: **I still don't own anything Harry Potter but I do own the plot in this fic. All of the characters in this story are JK Rowling's except Sarah, who is mine. It would be cool if I did own Harry Potter though.

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**James**

Of course Sarah was right, of course he loved Lily. Why was he acting like he hadn't realised? He'd known from the beginning of his infatuation with Lily that it was just a tiny crush and that it would definitely soon become something much more.

Maybe, because he'd been with Sarah, James had been thinking less about Lily and therefore thought he'd fallen out of love with her… Who was he kidding? He'd loved her from the beginning, he'd only gone out with Sarah to try and get over her.

James felt terrible that Sarah had worked this out, he really shouldn't have used her like that. He had liked her a bit, but what he felt for her was nothing compared to what he felt for Lily.

Lily was different, Lily had always been different. Even when he wasn't sure of his feelings for her, she had always been there in the back of his mind whenever he was with any other girls. It was as if he would never be able to be completely happy with anyone else because he was always reminded of her. Even if he didn't know if he loved her, she was just always _there. _

Sarah was still watching James, waiting to see if he'd respond to what she had said. After waiting for a minute, Sarah sighed and turned to walk away.

'Wait-' James called after her.

'What?' she asked, impatient.

'I'm sorry...' James mumbled feebly.

Sarah shrugged at him and replied, before walking away,

'You can't help who you fall for.'

**Lily**

Love? Surely James couldn't be in _love _with Lily? Strong lust, maybe, but not love. Love was too strong a word.

Love was something you experienced when you were older and more mature and had experienced everything. Love didn't happen when you were only just fully gaining control of your emotions.

Maybe he had shaken his head or something, that would explain why she hadn't heard him deny being in love with her. But then,

'I'm sorry…' his voice was quiet and almost defeated.

'You can't help who you fall for.' She heard Sarah say.

Footsteps, coming towards her, told Lily that Sarah was walking away from James, past where Lily was hiding.

Quickly, she moved further behind the statue of the witch and watched Sarah walk past. The tears were still wet on her face but she wasn't crying anymore. _Which, _thought Lily, _is kind of worse that if she actually was still crying._

Then more footsteps, James was walking past Lily now. He didn't look upset, more confused, but he was anxiously running his fingers continuously through his hair.

**James**

But he couldn't love Lily, he had to get over her. They would never work, even if he had rescued her, they were never going to have a proper relationship – they barely knew each other and James doubted that Lily would even consider having a relationship with him if she did know him.

Since when had he become this insecure? No other girl had ever made him feel so unsure about himself. Just Lily. Just beautiful, gorgeous Lily.

After realising that he was now 45 minutes late for his Charms lesson, James walked back up to his dorm and lay down on his bed. He was on the verge of falling asleep when the door of his dorm flew open and Sirius ran in a jumped on James' bed, thinking he was asleep.

'Wake up Prongs, you lazy sod,' sung Sirius, jumping up and down even harder.

James groaned in frustration and attempted to push Sirius off the bed but Sirius jumped off himself.

'We're going to try and get a quick game of Quidditch in before Defence so hurry up and get up off your arse.'

With that, Sirius vanished out of the dorm, broom in hand.

James pulled himself out of bed and picked up his broom, following Sirius out of the dorm. Maybe Quidditch would help to clear his head.

Sirius, Remus and Peter were all waiting for James in the school grounds, by the lake.

After an intensive –and quite violent- game of quick-Quidditch, the foursome settled down under the big oak tree by the lake to relax for the last few minutes of their break.

**Lily**

After some serious persuasion, Lily's friends Amanda and Natalie managed to get her to come out of the library she was busy studying in and out onto the grass by the lake to soak up the sun.

The three girls rolled up their trousers, took their shoes and socks off and paddled in the shallow edge of the lake. The sun was shining gloriously down on the Hogwarts grounds, glancing off the water of the lake that was now interrupted by huge ripples, gliding off in random directions.

Smiling and giggling, Lily and her friends ran about in the water, splashing each other with the freezing cold water and screaming. After having her school robe completely soaked, Lily shrugged it off and dropped it next to the robes of Amanda and Natalie who were now up to their waists in the water.

Lily flicked her long auburn hair behind her head and tied it into a loose pony tail, a vague attempt at stopping it from getting completely soaked in the water.

Amanda turned around to face Lily and then splashed her as hard as she could. Lily screamed, a mixture of shock and delight, and immediately splashed Amanda back, soaking Natalie in the process. As you can guess, a water fight ensued.

Eventually a crowd appeared around the three girls and people began watching them, cheering them on or even joining in themselves!

Unbeknown to Lily, a certain James Potter was watching her through the throng of people, a longing expression on his tired face.

**James**

_Did she always have to look so gorgeous?_ James thought, staring at Lily with a subconscious yearning expression on his face. Evidently she did always have to look that good, because her looks certainly weren't fading.

'Someone caught your eye Prongs?' Asked Sirius, looking at James with a bemused expression.

'Whah?' James responded, still staring at Lily and not paying attention to Sirius. A punch on his arm brought him back to Earth and he stared moodily at Sirius.

'What did you say?'

'I merely asked what had caught your eye.' Sirius repeated, 'it wasn't Evans by any chance was it?' He finished, sarcastically, raising his left eyebrow mockingly at James.

James smirked his famous shut-up-or-I'll-hit-you scowl™ that he reserved only for Sirius at his friend and pretended to be interested in the Golden Snitch that had been struggling to free itself from his pocket.

Sirius laughed and turned back to 'subtly' sending harmless curses at innocent passer bys, to Remus' annoyance. After a while Remus snatched Sirius' wand off him and pocketed it, muttering to himself about being surrounded by mindless imbeciles.

Sirius sighed and looked around, agitatedly. With nothing to do, he got up and made his way over to the water fight happening on the edge of the Great Lake. Lily Evans and her two friends were completely soaked through now and – to Sirius' delight – their clothes were almost completely see through.

'I say, Amanda,' he began, flicking his hair attractively and putting on his deepest, most sexy – in his opinion – voice. 'As much as I can see you're enjoying yourself down there, I'm sure you'd have much more fun if you accompanied me to Hogsmeade this weekend. What do you say?'

James, who had been watching Sirius from the moment he had stood up, scowled to himself. Why did Sirius always have to be so damn smooth? Even from where James was sitting, he could see Amanda's legs practically giving way beneath her as she giggled and fluttered her eyelashes back at Sirius.

'Sounds like that would be _very _fun,' she replied, flicking her wet hair from her face and smiling flirtatiously at Sirius.

Sirius smiled his famous pearly toothed smile at her and winked, 'meet you at the school gates at 7 then?'

Amanda nodded and Sirius turned and strutted back to where his friends were staring up at him, their expressions a mixture of admiration (Peter), annoyance (James) and mild irritation (Remus).

'Why don't you guys get yourselves dates for the weekend then?' Sirius asked the others, 'we could go on a massive group date! Kind of like an orgy, but with less sex.'

Remus gave Sirius, who was laughing to himself, a condescending look before shutting his book and standing up,

'I refuse to accompany on any of the thousand dates you plan on going on this year,' he said, 'I feel, or rather, I _hope_ that I have more class than that.'

Remus smiled sarcastically at Sirius and walked back into the castle.

'Must be that time of the month.' Sirius pondered, before falling into fits of laughter at the double meaning of what he had just said. James rolled his eyes and stood up to follow in Remus' footsteps, he wasn't in the best of moods and Sirius' happy mood and success girl-wise wasn't making him feel any better.

He still felt ridiculously guilty about what had happened with Sarah, and was having a hard time controlling himself whenever he saw Lucius Malfoy anywhere near him. So much was his anger that he had started deliberately avoiding corridors that he saw Lucius was in, using the Marauders' map, because he worried he might blow up if he found himself facing the slimy Slytherin.

Glancing back over his shoulder, James heard Lily say,

'I'm done for now guys, I've got to talk to Flitwick before charms so I have to get there early. See you later!'

James deliberately slowed down and ran his fingers unconsciously through his hair, starting to feel a bit more insecure.

**Lily**

The sun was now hiding behind some clouds, making Lily feel cold as she hurried quickly up to the school, needing to change out of her freezing clothes in time for her next lesson.

James, no _Potter, _was walking just ahead of her - probably hoping that she hadn't noticed him start slowing down when he realised she was walking behind him. Eventually she was level with him and he turned to her and smiled.

'Evans.'

'Potter.'

_I guess we're back to normal then_, thought Lily, _though I guess that's a good thing. _But was it really a good thing? What if she didn't want everything to go back to normal with James? What if she secretly hoped that something was going to happen with him?

Why was she even thinking this? This was _Potter _she was thinking about! Arrogant, conceited, girl-using Potter! Lily's mind wondered… was he really that conceited though? Of course, she knew what he was normally like, but she'd seen a different side of him when he'd rescued her. A side that had made her feel happy and protected – a side that she wouldn't mind seeing a hell of a lot more of.

'I've been meaning to ask you-' James began, his voice lacking its usual arrogance.

Lily groaned, 'Not again, Potter, surely you can't be asking me out _again?_ I thought you'd stopped by now.'

James blinked at her and half smiled, 'actually, I wasn't going to ask you out again.' Lily flushed, 'I wanted to ask your permission for me to tell Dumbledore what happened with Lucius.'

Lily's face paled immediately and her heart started thumping slightly faster.

'Why?' she asked, quietly.

'So that he can be punished for what he did to you!' Lily could tell that James was angry, and even though he wasn't angry with her, it was still making her feel even more insecure.

'But I… I can't tell him…' she stuttered, shivering uncomfortably.

James began to speak but after noticing Lily shiver, quickly took off his cloak and wrapped it around her shoulders. She smiled slightly in thanks but her smile vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared.

'I don't expect you to tell him,' James stated, 'he has a Pensieve… I just thought that maybe I could take your memory and… show it to him.'

Lily stared at James', her expression a mixture of fear and thought.

'Will I have to speak to him about it?' her voice was barely audible.

'Not if you don't want to.'

'I don't.'

James chewed his lip and held the door open for Lily as they walked into the warmth of the school. He looked at her questioningly, his eyes full of concern.

'Okay,' Lily's voice was shaking, 'you can take it.'

Smiling reassuringly at her, James took his wand and a small bottle out of his pocket. Holding the wand to Lily's head, he closed his eyes and then drew the wand back. A silvery substance had collected at the tip of the wand and James poured it carefully into the bottle is his hand, corking it.

'Is that it?' Lily asked,

'Yes, I can show it to him now.'

Lily breathed in and out deeply and James shuffled on his feet.

Taking in another breath and trying to push what had happened with Lucius out of her mind, Lily said quietly, 'Thank you.'

James pocketed the bottle in his hand and smiled shiftily at her before turning and walking down the corridor to find Remus.

Watching his retreating figure, Lily would have called him her 'Knight in Shining Armour' but after the clichéd boy-giving-girl-coat-because-she's-cold move, she felt it might be just a little too much – even though he really was her Knight in Shining Armour.

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**Sorry nothing too exciting happened in this chapter!**

**I just felt I kind of needed to develop what happened with Lily and Lucius further – I hope I did it well.**

**Also, thanks to **maraudersbanana **for the idea of Lily telling Dumbledore what happened – as you can see, I did use it  **

**Please review, your reviews for the last chapter were awesome to receive.**

**All my thanks,**

**theonlynewgirl**


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